ASHES OF WAR
by Campfirefish
Summary: Vale and Atlas have gone to war after the fall of Beacon. Jaune Arc and Ruby Rose embark on an epic quest to return Beacon to its former glory, obtain peace, and bring evil to justice. However, along the way they will encounter unforeseen challenges, new enemies, and old acquaintances. Rated M for language and possible other stuff.
1. Chapter 1, Into the Fire

**Into the Fire**

 **There is no definitive date for releases, especially after chapter 5 which im still working on plotline for. Be patient and constructive criticism is encouraged!**

After the fall of Beacon, life was never the same. After the fall of Beacon the Valean People's Army (VPA), the new face of Vale's armed forces declared martial law. The Atlas Grand Fleet (AGF) under the command of General James Ironwood overstepped its boundaries and began continental bombing runs on the remainder of Beacon's ruins and high Grimm concentrations across Sanus.

The Vale Council in anger of Atlas' bombings along with the civilian and some military casualties involved, and their own ambition, declared war on Atlas. Any remaining huntsman of Beacon were enlisted to the VPA's growing army.

Vacuo and Mistral refused to join in the conflict. Ozpin miraculously still alive after the fall, attempted to rally forces. The huntsmen he rallies are few, among those he gathers are Ruby Rose, Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Yang Xiao Long, and Sun Wukong. Weiss Schnee was taken by Jacques Schnee back to Atlas to serve in their specialist army.

Pyrrha narrowly surviving Cinder, was killed by Jaune not too long after. Driven by grief for his deeds Jaune quickly rose through ranks, and became one of Vale's deadliest. Ren was driven into a hatred of all of Atlesian peoples after Nora Valkyrie was gunned down by SDC soldiers.

Yang was narrowly saved by Blake from Adam's attempt to kill her. Blake Belladonna had gone missing afterwards and assumed KIA.

The ex-Headmaster Ozpin, now titled General Ozpin decided it in the VPA's best interests to send for Mistrali reinforcements, which he hopes will come to Vale's aid. The others were to serve in the defense of Vale against Atlesian offensive efforts.

Ozpin himself was left in charge of many of Vale's operations due to Atlas assassinations of the majority of Vale's council. Ozpin sends Qrow Branwen and Glynda Goodwitch along with 100 of Vale's finest to retake Beacon Territory back from the Grimm and White Fang.

* * *

Jaune along with Ruby trudged down the long path across Sanus that would eventually lead to a port which in turn would bring them to Anima and in turn, Mistral. He had been broken over _his_ killing of Pyrrha. They served together for a time, until that one mission.

They were surrounded by Atlesian soldiers, their aura's were low but they cut every last one of the soldiers down, killed all of them. He sensed movement behind him and instinctively swung Crocea Mors behind him expecting to hit Atlesian combat armour. Instead the blade slid right across Pyrrha's throat. It penetrated her aura, it being so low already, blood gushed out like a broken faucet.

He remembered so clearly now, she looked into his eyes bleeding out in his arms, her last words being that she loved him. He always blamed himself for her death… it was his fault after all.

He never told anyone the true story, said she died in combat saving him. Much easier to accept than the truth. Now he was on a mission for Ozpin, the general refused to give them an airship for worries of being intercepted. The still young Ruby Rose, now 18 was with him. All of his old 'friends' besides her including himself were 20 by now.

Jaune was truly famed in the VPA, his kill count unimaginable. He wore much stronger armour now. Titanium plating could be seen covering his entire sword arm while his shield arm only guarded by thick cloth. The shiny titanium covered his torso in a scale like pattern. His pants were more flexible, a lighter reinforced aluminum metal along with resistant cloth. His combat boots could be seen as normal, but one could see the top of a flask inside the boot.

Along with Crocea Mors, Jaune carried a dust pistol on his right thigh. Forced to compensate for his lack of a ranged weapon he also carried a machine gun attached to his bag for good measure. Oh how he wanted to keep Pyrrha's weapons, but he had respectively sent them back to any family she had left in Mistral. He did finally find his semblance as well, that was a positive.

Ruby hadn't changed too much and still wore a combat skirt. However her usual hyperness gone, and her silver eyes that of iron. She had killed… she hated it, but war was war and she had no choice. Yet even as her personality had changed, she still had a soft spot. From time to time her heart opened up, to find nobody there.

Ruby glanced over to Jaune, she felt bad for the boy, he had so much sadness and hatred. He was no longer the Jaune she once knew, possibly a part of the old him was inside there somewhere. Or it had been killed along with Pyrrha.

Ruby also realized that she too was no longer her younger self. She had changed as well.

Jaune's cobalt eyes scanned the terrain around them for threats. Those eyes were not the old friendly and nervous eyes, they were stern, cold, calculating and fearless. Fearless, a quality he always wished to have but came at a cost.

There was a rustle of bushes to the side of them. An Ursa stomped out of them shaking Ruby from her thoughts. It was silenced however, the moment it revealed itself as Jaune ripped Crocea Mors from it's sheathe, throwing the blade. The steel made contact, implanting itself in the Ursa's skull. The beast began to disintegrate as Jaune tore the sword from the Ursa. Grimm were being commonly drawn to Vale's negative attitude in the past years. The old Jaune would only dream of doing such a thing… so easily. The thing that made Ruby worry, he looked bored doing it.

The day drew to a close and the two set up separate tents along with a small fire. Every hour went by, neither saying a word. Ruby had taken the liberty of setting up motion sensors around the perimeter of the camp, so they both could sleep. Not that either would get much either way. Both tossed and turned, neither finding comfort in the padding of their sleeping bags. Ruby nibbled on a ration bar for a bit, while Jaune finally seemed to turn in. Maybe they would get some sleep.

The engines of Valean B-3 Airships roared for all ears to hear. The B-3 was a massive Vale Airship and could go toe to toe with an Atlesian Airship if need be. The three airships moved in formation away from the city of Vale to the ruined estate of Beacon Academy. Qrow could see the silhouette of the old CCT along with the Grimm dragon frozen there, which was his niece's doing.

His mission: accompany 100 VPA soldiers along with Goodwich to Beacon ruins in a desperate attempt to regain it from the Grimm. If they could manage to get the CCT back online, there may be a way to diplomatically end the war between Vale and Atlas. Any couriers were commonly shot down. In the wake of being at war with an technologically advanced nation like Atlas, Vale had to modernize its offensive measures. Therefore the B-3 Airship.

The only difficult thing about the situation was the Griffons and Nevermores, thankfully they were ready for such an attack. Radar picked up the figures of Grimm flying towards them. The B-3's manned heavy dust cannons began to target figures and fire. Grimm fell out of the sky in loads. _Why couldn't we have these things at the fall of Beacon?_ Qrow asked himself, if so the whole situation could've been avoided. Of course, it was the White Fang that really caused the fall, along with the Fall Maiden. One could not count out Roman Torchwick as well, the criminal was claimed deceased by Ruby.

After the fall and before the war, when it was believed Ozpin was dead. Vale and Atlas both moved to crush any sign of the White Fang, that had been one of the events that led to the war. Atlas' extreme tactics led to Vale's declaration of war. Ozpin always tried to avoid conflict, but when they dug him up, ol Ozzy back from the dead, war was upon them. There was no stopping it.

The airships cleared a small area to drop troops inside Beacon. Qrow dropped with the first squad of Valean soldiers, the boys were mere recruits. Qrow directed an estimated 15 men, ordering them to take defensive positions. The men took cover behind rubble preparing for the horde of Grimm that was to come.

Qrow glanced to his right, seeing another B-3 land with Glynda hop off. The roar of Grimm resounded across the campus as many Beowulf leaped out of the darkness. A light rain had begun to fall from the sky. The Valean soldiers in their greenish brown attire fired rounds into the Grimm with a fury. This was the location where it all went wrong and it was their duty to take it back.

Qrow himself leapt into the horde of black and white, his weapon in its scythe form. With one sweeping blow he tore threw multiple Beowulf. There was a screech as more Griffons and Nevermores entered the battle. Qrow only hoped that the airships could cover them.

 _He could see her, Pyrrha stood before him. She looked perfect. Jaune tried to move but was held still, he reached his left hand up to touch her face. Then her friendly smile slowly turned into a frown. Her eyes began to tear up, his right arm drew Crocea Mors, he couldn't stop it. "Jaune… Why?" Her voice now ghastly uttered._

 _Blood began to spew from her throat, Crocea Mors' blade tinted crimson. She fell to her knees, still staring into his eyes, emerald piercing sapphire. Then something he never expected happened, something he had never seen before._

 _Her emerald eyes slowly began to turn lighter, until they became silver. Her very form changed before his eyes. Then before him on her knees bleeding out, was a girl in red, just younger than him, Ruby. Her bloody figure collapsed to the ground Crocea Mors gone from his hand and appearing in her chest-_

"NOOOOO!" He awoke screaming in terror, his usually quiet figure gone. Never, would he let a friend die in such a manner. Let alone by his own hand, but why Ruby? She had never appeared in his dreams much before. Jaune looked at himself drenched in sweat, he most assuredly had awoken Ruby.

There was a shadow that moved outside his tent, "J-Jaune are you alright." Asked Ruby. Jaune coughed, "U-Uh, yes. I apologize for waking you Ruby." His voice returned to a cold tone.

Ruby just sighed, "If… If you want to talk about anything. Please, just ask. We had better pack up and get moving." Jaune muttered in agreement stepping out of the tent. He was rather well toned, hard training after Pyrrha's death really did pay off. Ruby couldn't help but steal a glance at his bare upper body. Ptff, old wishes, childish stuff. Jaune pulled on his armor, Ruby was already dressed.

After rolling up their tents and smothering the ashes of their fire, they once again began their trek across Sanus. A sign along the path told them it wouldn't be too far before they reached a small village, Kine's Watch.

Kine's watch soon appeared over the horizon the stone tower in the center of the village gave off no signs of life. The palisade gates were open and they could sense the scent of smoke in the air. Jaune and Ruby both deployed their respective weapons. It was clear that the town was void of life.

Everything was quiet as they entered, too quiet. Blood stained the street, some bodies littered the sidewalk. Jaune poked a body with Crocea Mors, "The Grimm didn't do this… These are bullet wounds. That can't be… there haven't been Atlas attacks out this way for some time!" Ruby took another good look around, "Let's split up, see if we can find anything useful." The knight nodded in agreement and began to walk off in a separate direction.

Jaune treaded carefully through a side street, sword still drawn. Then a gunshot rang out, Ruby had found something! Before he could move a cold hand clasped his shoulder. He whipped around prepared to strike, _wait… what was that doing here!_

Heavy dust shells pounded an oncoming horde of Nevermores attempting to attack one of the airships. Glynda herself was deflecting horde after horde of beowulf on the ground, occasionally glancing up to see the battle above.

Qrow had just finished cutting down a small tide of creeps when he spotted something unexpected. A trio of soldiers were continuously firing at Grimm and making progress. However, the soldiers seconds later all 'blew up' meaning exploded. Qrow rushed over to their last position to see a figure standing there leaning on a green cane.

The man wore a smug grin and gave Qrow a wave. Who was this man? "Greetings! My name is Cyan Kane, genius, gentleman and criminal mastermind extraordinaire! I take it you must be the famed Qrow Branwen! This is exciting." Qrow only scowled. The man's attire consisted of a purple suit with a plain white undershirt. His hair color was an emerald green color and he had a matching eye color.

"Ah, yes of course you would likely not know me in these parts. However you do know my brother, Roman Torchwick?" Cyan asked. Qrow slowly nodded. Cyan continued, "Well, lesser-half brother, but we trained together and all that fun." He twirled his cane in his hand, expressing his similarity to Torchwick.

"It would seem that little brother bit off more than he could chew, I wouldn't say the same for the beast that killed him though." Cyan laughed madly. Was this man insane? The answer, yeah probably.

"Well, as fun as this one sided chat has been, I can't let you clear these ruins of the Grimm." He bowed, "By the Queen's command!" Qrow brought up his sword as Cyan fired his cane. Qrow avoided the projectiles and slashed at the criminal.

Cyan blocked with ease, wielding his cane around in different positions targeting Qrow's legs and feet. The two traded blows, neither gaining any true ground. Qrow charged with aura enhancing his speed at an attempt to thrust his blade into Cyan's chest. To Qrow's surprise he phased right through his opponent.

"Hahaha, SURPRISE birdy!" Cyan taunted. He was slightly transparent in his aura phased form. The effect was short as Cyan became solid once again.

It must be Cyan's semblance, to phase through a strike. Qrow wasted no time as he sent a kick behind him, catching Cyan in the back. The man's aura flared a bright greenish-blue. Heh, cyan.

The newcomer stumbled backwards then tripped on a rock almost falling on his ass (rather unfortunate). However Cyan recovered and adjusted something on his cane.

The top of Cyan's cane detached from the rest and was launched at Qrow who deflected it back to Cyan, who caught it. In his left hand Cyan had the stick part of his cane and in his right, the top part of his cane which was a hidden blade concealed inside.

Qrow charged once again, Cyan did not even strike him. The criminal simply either deflected Qrow's attacks or phased through them. Qrow stopped striking, breathing heavily getting nowhere.

"Interesting semblance Mr. Kane." Qrow grumbled. Cyan bowed in reply. "You cannot take out the airships though, even if you defeat me, you wont stop Goodwich."

Cyan rolled his emerald green eyes, "Oh cocky Qrow! You are so non-observant! Take a look at your airships."

Cyan was right, Qrow hadn't noticed before but the airships had appeared to of taken heavy damage, smoke flowing from their hulls. The damage was not done by Grimm however, it appeared to of been done by heavy dust cannon fire from hidden ground emplacements.

A squadron of bullheads swooped down from a flaming B-3, one hovered behind Qrow. Then Branwen saw his options and decided to hop onto the bullhead, he could see Goodwitch boarding another.

It had to of been a trap of some sort. Somebody did not want Beacon to be taken back. Ozpin was not going to be happy, he wanted, no… he needed that academy back. The plan just went south, and his niece (Ruby) and the Arc boy were in probable danger. Things just got real serious.

The cold metal hand clasped his shoulder. The metal hand of an outdated atlesian knight 200, the Atlas military developed the AK-225 to combat Grimm and humans alike.

Jaune wasted no time and hand to hand combat not being something he was weak in. He grabbed the hand on his shoulder and flipped the robot over his back, slamming it onto the ground with shattering force.

Now realizing his surroundings he found that he was surrounded by AK-200s. They had full auto dust rifles to bear. A silent capture of him had failed and they now prepared to open fire.

Jaune then activated his semblance with a cold smile. Gold and white aura surrounding him on all sides. The mechs opened fire. 10 robots with full automatic weapons firing at him and… having no effect. Once the dust rounds reached his aura they simply stopped.

Finally all of the AK-200s ran out of ammunition, it was his turn. With a battle cry, Jaune released his aura creating a shockwave. If the dust rounds being flung back at the knights didn't destroy them, the aura shockwave surely did.

Jaune took a deep breath, it was hard to control his semblance, he was confident in smaller uses of it. Now he had to find Ruby, she would of surely came after hearing the gunfire.

Those damn mechs must of got the jump on her. Luckily, he was an excellent tracker.

Darkness clouded Ruby's vision. Her head hurt, bad. She felt around for her weapon, but her search came up empty.

All she remembered was walking through an alley then being grabbed and disarmed by and atlesian knight 200. A shot was fired in her face at point blank range to knock her out, well… that and being cracked in the head by a metal arm.

Her vision cleared up slightly. She was alone in a dark room, blank concrete walls surrounded her with a single steel door.

The oddest thing about what happened to her was the atlesian knight 200s. Those models were outdated when Cinder's virus took control of them at the fall of Beacon. So the question was, why were there atlesian knight 200s in action? Let alone in Valean controlled territory.

Then there was Jaune. What had happened to him? Was he attacked too? Hopefully he was alright. If he wasn't taken, he may be able to get to her.

Also, who was behind the control of the atlesian knights? So many questions, no answers.

Ruby was startled as she heard the steel door move. She backed up against the wall and prepared to use her semblance. The moment the door opened, Ruby launched to it at incredible speed.

This was to no prevail as an AK-200 caught her and slammed her into the ground. The another proceeded to help pick her up and drag her out of the room and down a cold dim hallway. Whoever was controlling the mech's knew her semblance well enough to prepare a counter measure.

They dragged her into a much nicer room, furnished with lush couches and a fireplace, along with other devices. The figure that stood before her, truly was the last person she expected to see. He was supposed to be dead, no, she saw him die.

However, despite all odds, standing in all his glory, cocky grin, white suit and all, was one Roman Torchwick. "R-Roman?" She asked unsure.

The ginger haired criminal leaned forward on his cane with a big smile, "Hey Red, long time, no see!"

 **YANG DID NEVER LOSE HER ARM, I want this to be known for the future. Jaune has a semblance! Ruby is a person! I think, maybe still a cookie monster! Who knows…...**

 **Please bear with me!**


	2. Chapter 2, RNJR

RNJR

Fun chapter with some teases!

Her silver eyes shown brightly with confusion. Roman Torchwick was killed right in front of her at the fall of Beacon. Eaten by a Grimm, but of course, eaten alive.

Roman nodded to the AK-200s, "I found out how to reprogram these babies myself! Do you like them? Believe me when I say this Red, I don't want to hurt you… not anymore."

The thug began to unbuckle his belt. Wait… What? This was not supposed to happen, why her? Why him? Never in a million years did she think it would go down like this!

At seeing her wide eyed reaction, Roman broke down laughing. "Oh Red, I couldn't do that to you! Despite what you think, I'm not a monster!" He nodded past her. "You're standing in front of the restroom!"

Ruby let out a sigh of relief as she was dragged out of the was by AK-200s. Roman himself popped out of the bathroom a second later.

"Ah! Now please," He gestured to the automated knights. "Red is a guest here." They released her. Ruby stood awkwardly in front of Torchwick, but staring him down carefully nonetheless. "Why Roman, why did you bring me here, alive?"

Roman's smile dropped into a scowl, "Well Red, as much as I hate to admit it… I need your help." It was Ruby's turn to laugh, "You need my help! What makes you think I would help you? The man who helped orchestrate the fall of Beacon and tried to kill me!" He had to of been insane, no one in their right mind would help him.

"Because Red, not only do we have a common enemy, but my problem is a danger to you as well." Roman took a seat gesturing for Ruby to do the same.

"After my apparent death, my business was up for grabs. That meant a large part of the criminal underworld had a power vacuum. I was going to sweep in and reclaim my underworld empire not to long after 'dying'."

Roman poured a glass of what must've been wine. He offered it to Ruby who denied it. "That however, was not the case. An old adversary took control of everything, locked me out of most of my accounts and killed and replaced those most loyal to me."

Ruby scoffed and rolled her eyes at the criminal's 'sob story'. "Why should I care?" She asked. Roman leaned forward for the firelight to illuminate his fierce glare.

"Because Red, the man who took control of my business is my half-brother, Cyan Kane. He is far worse than I ever was. You ask why you should care? Well… he is the one personally seeing to the continued destruction of Beacon and already has ambushed your uncle."

Ruby gasped in surprise, then grinned. "I bet Uncle Qrow kicked his ass!" Roman chuckled, "That is not the case. He is not me and far more skilled than I. Cyan is a more than a fair match for that old Crow." This had gotten Ruby's attention.

"I see" was all she could respond.

The room shook as a loud crash was heard from down one of the many halls. Roman gestured to an AK-200, "Check that out will you?"

The robot made it nearly three feet before it was impaled into the wall by a steel blade. Crocea Mors. Roman stood up, "For fuc-" A body slammed into him, knocking Roman onto the floor.

It was Jaune who proceeded to pummel Torchwick in the face with a flurry of punches. However it was Ruby who pulled Jaune off of Roman. "JAUNE! STOP! He may be able to help us, this entire mission is pointless if he is right!" She was right, Beacon was important in whatever Ozpin had planned, and the Mistrali soldiers were only secondary to Beacon.

Roman, after brushing himself off, explained what he had told Ruby, to Jaune. Who scowled, but nodded in understanding. "So there is a new, more dangerous person in the game?" Jaune asked. "Right you are Arc angel! Oh, did I mention you two make a lovely couple?"

Ruby blushed and looked away while Jaune grunted and told him to 'Fuck off because they were not together' and it was partially Roman's fault for Pyrrha's death. Of course it was primarily Jaune's.

Roman gave Jaune a cruel grin, "Oh but Jauney Boy, we both know that I am not to blame for the famed Nikos' death. Nor are the Atlesian soldiers. No…" He poked Crocea Mors with his cane, "It was this very sword by which she was slain."

Jaune stood up shocked. Roman continued, "Ah, but not this sword alone. She was killed by your own hand." Jaune stumbled back, "How… how did you know this?" Roman shrugged, "Eh, it's easier to keep tabs on things when everyone thinks you're dead. So, why not tell your friends?"

Jaune looked over to Ruby, who looked to him then to Roman, her eyes tearing up. Jaune searched for a response, only to come up short. "I- I'm sorry." The usually stoic blond sprinted away his eyes red from impending tears.

It was Ruby who found Jaune, just outside Roman's complex. He was sitting on a concrete slab which had a decent overlook of the surrounding area. She slid down next to him, tears gone but a soft look on her face.

"Jaune…" She said softly. "Why did you never tell the truth, that you were the one who killed Pyrrha?" Jaune sniffed, "It… was an accident, I was too scared to tell anyone the truth. She was behind me and I reacted off instinct. Our aura's were both low and…" He started crying leaning into Ruby who proceeded to hug him.

"Jaune, you couldn't have known. It was an accident." Ruby tried to comfort him.

"I should of been more aware, stronger, faster. But I failed, when she was there for me and trusted me, I killed her. Even if it was by accident, She is dead because of me and my incompetence! It's all my fault!" Jaune cried out between sobs.

"NO JAUNE! It's not your fault. If it's anybody's it is Cinder's, Roman's, this Queen figure, hell maybe even the White Fang or Atlas! But it is not yours." Ruby poked a finger in his breastplate, "She would've wanted you to keep fighting and move forward, not to blame yourself and sulk over her. Jaune, she loved you and I am not going to let you tear yourself apart over what happened."

She tightened her grip on the boy, "Jaune, I care about you. So I will be here to help you always. You can't keep tearing yourself apart over this! You have already changed, but there still is the Jaune Arc who I met back at the academy somewhere inside you. You were my first friend at Beacon, so if you think for one second I'm going to stand by and watch you tear yourself apart, then you are wrong."

She paused for a second before continuing, "When we became partners, whether we fully ment to at the time or not, we instilled trust in one another to support the other through any trials or tribulations. That Jaune Arc, has not and will not change." She gave him one last hug, "We still have a long way to go before this is done." Ruby stood up, "I'll see you inside Jaune."

Ruby took one last look at the boy and walked back into the complex, to find Roman standing in the center of his room with a neapolitan colored girl. Neo.

"Ah, Red! Good to see ya, Im sure you remember ol' Neo?" Roman asked in a cheerful manner. Ruby nodded. "Great! Ah yes, I almost forgot." He pulled out a piece of paper.

"Our little group has four people which in turn forms a team, so." Roman showed her the contents, RNJR (Ranger). "Roman, Neo, Jaune, and Red."

"You do know my name is Ruby right?" Ruby asked. Roman shrugged, "Heh, I don't care."

"Alright, so team RNJR is us and led by… you?" Asked Ruby. Roman nodded. Ruby sighed, like she was going to convince him not to take the leadership position.

It was hard to look at Roman and see a potential ally. After all that happened in their past, Roman was seen as an enemy. Not a teammate.

Roman rolled out a map on one of the few tables in his room, it displayed Sanus. He pointed to the city of Vale, next to it on a cliff due to topography, was Beacon Academy.

"A recent attempt by Valean armed forces along with your uncle led an attack on Beacon estate in an attempt to take it back. This failed, the Valean airships were also heavily damaged by gun batteries." Roman sat of folder on top of the map, pulling a number of pictures from it.

One of the pictures shown a large cannon pointed into the sky. "This is a heavy dust battery. Some groups in the White Fang have gotten hold of a few of these babies, but I myself had a few. It would appear Cyan took my heavy cannons and placed them at Beacon."

Roman took another picture from the folder. It revealed a man in a purple suit, with a plain white undershirt. He had a purple cane similar in design to Roman's. He had green hair and matching emerald eyes.

"This, is my half-brother Cyan Kane. By the way, his hair is actually a fabulous orange like mine, he just dyed it green." Roman informed, petting his own hair slightly.

"Cyan Kane is not to be underestimated by any means. Though his cane doubles as a gun, like mine, Cyan is primarily a melee expert. His cane contains a hidden blade, giving him a potential sword. Of course he has no need of it to defeat most opponents." Roman continued.

"However, it is not just his fancy toys that make him extremely dangerous. Cyan is brilliantly clever and has a rather rare semblance. Cyan can phase straight through attacks, making him nearly impossible to hit. Though he can only use this ability in short bursts, it makes him nearly impossible to defeat or capture."

With even four of them, this Cyan Kane was going to be very hard to eliminate. Ruby wasn't sure how they were supposed to achieve this. Even so, Cyan was too dangerous to be allowed to roam free. He had to be stopped.

Roman gave off a yawn gesturing to the clock, "Well kids, it was a pleasure as always, but I am going to turn in for the night. Please don't stab me in my sleep." Jaune smirked, "I'll suppress the urge."

Roman bowed in sarcastic gratitude. The criminal led them to a room, "I'm not used to having visitors so I really only have cell beds for you kids." He gestured to 2 'beds' in the room on opposite sides. They were more like cots than beds.

Ruby thanked him for his 'hospitality' then plopped on one of the cots. Jaune took the other, dragging off his shiny armor and setting it by the bed. Then his shirt, then belt, and shoes.

Ruby raised a brow and watched him, as Jaune reached into his bag to pull something out. When she saw it, she fell on the floor laughing so hard it brought tears to her eyes. Jaune, somehow STILL had his baby blue onesie from Beacon.

"Wha- What?" Stuttered Jaune. "This is the first time in a while i've not had to sleep in my armour or at least half of my clothes. Plus it's kinda cold in here!"

Ruby just continued to laugh, "It- It's just I never thought I would see you in THAT again!" Jaune's face was beet red as he disappeared into the small bathroom to change.

Although Jaune had become an entity in the public eye to be primarily described as a 'badass'. Jaune was still Jaune, and that meant he was still somewhat awkward in many ways.

He stepped out of the restroom, the blond hero, slayer of the enemies of Vale, Knight in shining armor, Jaune Arc was wearing a baby blue onesie. Proudly!

Ruby was still laughing when he came out, but seeing him actually in it again was the most hilarious thing she had seen since… she could remember.

"Hahahaha, oh Jaune!" She snorted, "You are still so goofy. Seriously though," She took up a posture similar to what Goodwitch used to. Pushing up her imaginary glasses, "Mr. Arc, you are disturbing others from sleep."

Jaune cracked a big grin, sliding into his cot. That was good, he made her laugh. He hadn't seen her laugh and smile like that for a long time.

This new team he was part of, team RNJR, was going to be very interesting. He would have to keep an eye on Roman and his creamy counterpart. Heh, creamy, like ice cream, like neapolitan.

Though Roman was temporarily an 'ally', they still had to remember; they were working with one of the most dangerous criminals out there. Ruby seemed to know more about this 'Neo' character than Jaune, but he would keep a close eye on her too. Was she a mute? He did never hear her say anything before. Eh, who was he to judge?

He took one last look over to Ruby who laid there calmly, not asleep, on the cot. She looked at peace, black hair with red highlights hung gracefully, just tickling her cheeks. Wrapped in her cloak, even with a small smile.

Jaune closed his eyes and let a smile set on his face, time to get some rest. He let darkness take him.

* * *

Cyan Kane stepped into the very ruins of Beacon tower. Her majesty wanted the tower to remain out of Ozpin's hands. So Cyan had moved his late-brother's dust batteries to the tower and had some remaining White Fang operatives control them.

The Grimm were generally enough to keep wanderers away, but a little reassurance couldn't hurt.

"Perry, get over here!" He called out, or was it Terry? Eh who cares. Such incompetent animals, Faunus, why would anyone want an army of them? "Yeah boss?" The Faunus asked.

Cyan gestured to multiple spots around the ruins, "Double the guard in these areas. With Ozpin now aware of us, I don't want to take any chances. He isn't the type just to give up."

The Faunus bowed, but before he could leave was stopped. "Is our short range transmit system up yet?" Perry or Terry shook his head, "Not yet boss, we are having problems with infusing the dust to power it. We'll have it up and running soon enough."

Cyan nodded shooing him away, "Alright, well get to it then. We don't have much of a margin for error."

He pulled a few reports from one of the many folders balancing on a rock next to him. Someone has been poking around a number of his assets, be they people or storehouses, they still were causing problems.

Ah, It appears they found the culprits. No, just one culprit. A Ms. Xiao Long. First year student at Beacon, now rogue. Apparently she has been bent on a one woman spree to take out late-Roman Torchwick's assets.

She would be taken care of in good time. He would probably just send Perry/Terry to do it. On a more annoying note, it appeared a shipment of his dust was damaged, exploded, and destroyed its convoy. Damn animals, they can't do anything right.

From the looks of things and progress of operations, It was going to be a long night. Plus, he had other business to attend to… better not be late. Hopefully her majesty would send him to capture the silver eyed girl, though Tyrian does have some sort of fetish for fighting her kind. Damn mad man.

* * *

Jaune was in deep slumber, though it was morning, he turned back and forth. His breathing heavy. This was no ordinary slumber however, this was another series of nightmares which haunt him every night.

Sweat drenched his light blue onesie, turning it to a wet navy blue. The sheets over him on his cot were disheveled and no more dry than his clothing.

His breathing calmed slightly, so did his twisting and turning. His senses slightly tuned in, upon the first stages of waking up. He felt something cool touch his face, soft as well, and rather soothing.

"Jaune." A voice said, his eyes snapped open. He then saw Ruby over him, one hand on his cheek, her face a half a foot away from his. His sapphire eyes gazed into her silver. "It's time to get up, we gotta get dressed, and ready to leave."

Jaune nodded and he let his eyes gaze over the younger girl's attire. She was in her casual night attire. Black sweat pants with a slim crimson tank top. She looked… good. Nah, bad Jaune. No breakfast biscuit for you.

Heh, come to think of it, he had never noticed her leave to change. That didn't really matter. He yawned, "Why don't you take the shower first Rubes. Let me wake up."

Ruby smiled and nodded, "Thanks, oh, I did mention to Roman that you can cook. He is kinda expecting some bacon." Jaune groaned. Was keeping his badass posture going to be this hard? Eh, cooking lessons from Ren had paid off in other ways.

While Ruby had got into the shower, Jaune trudged into the kitchen area where he saw Roman and Neo (His new teammates) waiting. There was one major problem though, it was morning, he just woke up, and well… still had a blue onesie on.

Neo grinned and wagged her eyebrows at him, licking her lips in a teasing manner. Roman just stared for a second, then broke down laughing so hard he had trouble breathing. Wow, if he really wanted to defeat his enemies, he could just start wearing this.

In all seriousness, was this going to become a common reaction? He sure hoped not, he was so sleeping in armor after this.

He slapped some bacon in a pan, seriously, could Roman not make his own. It sizzled until it was crisp, the savory smell filling the room. He slapped the first set of pieces on a plate. It appeared someone else had taken the responsibility of putting in toast.

Neo popped up in front of him and ran a finger down his chest stopping at his waist line and staring into his eyes. He froze and stared back at her. There was a sound behind him, when he turned the plate of bacon was gone. He turned back to Neo, who shattered like glass. His eye caught the real Neo, in the main room with a plate of bacon, damn thief.

Roman shrugged and chuckled as the next sets of bacon went on. Jaune handed Roman's to the man himself and put his onto a plate. He then put Ruby's onto another plate and picked it up, why not bring her breakfast? Kindness and all!

He walked past the criminals and pushed through the cracked door to his shared room. What he saw was, not expected.

Ruby Rose stood there in less than appropriate glory staring back at him, her entire body exposed and red like roses. All he could do was stare, after all… her figure was rather nice. Damn, forget nice, dare he say desireable? Slim, smooth, small… wait, BAD JAUNE!

It appeared she forgot her clothes by her bunk, so with checking if the coast was clear went to get them. With some piece of what Jaune was trying to decide was either fortune or misfortune, Jaune stumbled in on her at that exact moment.

She let out a belated shreek.

Jaune stumbled to turn around. In his awkward fumble smashed into the door which had closed itself behind him. The plate of food shattered with contact on the door, Jaune's face making contact with the door as well.

He fumbled to get it open then stumbled out with a pale/red face, muttering an apology. He trudged past Neo, snatching a piece of her bacon and stood in a corner nibbling on it.

Roman saw his face and stance, the man knew. Bloody oracle he was. The ginger criminal laughing again that day, bacon bits flying from his mouth. "Oh, Jaune! We are just going to be the best teammates. It's like my old days all over again!"

Ruby trudged out still red minuets later, but this time dressed. Jaune once again fumbled for an apology. Ruby held up a hand to stop him. "It's fine Jaune. It was an accident. The thought of you bringing me my breakfast was actually rather sweet. Just, knock next time, will ya?"

Jaune nodded an apologetic smile still on his face. Ruby picking some bacon off of his own plate which now sat cold on the counter.

Roman stood up with false enthusiasm, "Well team RNJR! Who is ready to take down a criminal overlord?!" Jaune feebly raised up a hand. "Yes?" Roman asked. "Uh, can I get a shower first?"

RNJR

Roman, Neo, Jaune, Ruby

I absolutely loved this chapter! Keep following me kiddies, we are gonna have quite the adventure!

 **Roman is turning out quite friendly, will he stay this way for long? I love Roman myself, can't wait to have some fun with him!**


	3. Chapter 3, Stories

STORIES

 **SRRY tried to publish yesterday but the doc wouldn't transfer...**

 **Please enjoy chapter 3!**

Four figures trekked the simple but beautiful Sanus landscape. Team RNJR, Roman, Neo, Jaune, and Ruby. Their progress to Beacon would be a general backtrack of Jaune and Ruby's original route. As far as conversation went, there was none. Jaune and Ruby led the group since it was their steps that were being backtracked.

Jaune and Ruby generally stayed quiet, each avoiding the other's gaze; due to the awkward run in earlier. They would set up camp for only one night then push quickly, avoiding Vale, to Cyan's position.

Curiously enough it was Ruby who decided to start conversation, "So Roman…" She started slowly. "You're still alive, obviously. I was a bit curious, how did you survive? Being eaten alive by a Griffon and all that fun." She let out a small awkward chuckle at being the one to break silence.

Roman uttered a low growl, it seemed this was not a topic he wanted to discuss. "Well Red, I suppose for the sake of passing time, I'll tell ya." He laughed, the man was a storyteller nonetheless. "I suppose a writer would love to have this story, take up space with it." Nobody got the joke, he wasn't sure if he even did.

"Anyway, so Red, I was knocking the shit out of you with my cane. Right?" All he got in response was a growl from Ruby. "Big ugly bird brain chomps down on me! Damn thing grabs me and swallows me whole, cane and all! Here's the curious thing, normally Grimm tear you apart. I was lucky to be swallowed whole, and alive." Ruby scoffed, "I thought I was lucky with you getting taken care of, you were going to kill me!"

"And I was Red!" Roman continued, "I'm not going to lie, I was pretty intent on killing you at that point, you had been a thorn in my back for a while, and after Neo getting blown away. I was pretty pissed." Ruby received a kick in the heel by Neo after Roman's remark.

"So, once I came to my senses I realized I was still alive. But there was a lot of jarring around. I'm going to guess you were the one who killed the beast?" Ruby nodded in acknowledgement. "Yeah I kinda sent it into the airship's bridge."

Roman let out a small 'hmm'. "Well anyway, I found myself alive inside of a Grimm. Ah, dead Grimm. On board of a crashing atlesian airship, with fires all around me. I was pretty low on aura, barely registering. Once the ship smashed into the ground, thankfully it did not explode, I managed to crawl out. The Grimm seemed far too interested in Beacon to notice me crawling away. I found out the airship crashed outside of the city, and from there was home free!"

Everyone stayed quiet for a moment, Neo, naturally. "So…" Jaune asked, "How exactly did you get your hands on Atlesian Knight 200's?" Roman grinned, "Ah yes, my luck came in full right there! So after a little rest and popping a few smaller Grimm, my aura had regenerated some and made the pain bearable." Roman winced remembering how badly his body had hurt after being eaten then smashed into the ground at an alarming velocity.

"I had started making my way as far away from Vale as possible for a while, with all the huntsman, police, Grimm and fun. I realized that ol' Cindy had no use for me at this point, so I couldn't go back to her. While making my way away from Vale, and plotting to go to the safehouse that you found me." He held up his cane, "I was the only one left alive who knew about this particularly safehouse. I came up on a downed Atlesian shuttle. It was carrying AK-200s, and under amazing fortune, deactivated. With the capital ship down they were useless. So, I spent time, reprogramming them. It really wasn't that hard, turn KILL GRIMM AND WHITE FANG to PROTECT ROMAN TORCHWICK AND FOLLOW COMMANDS. Walk in the park! So once I finally reached my safehouse, I had found that during my 'death', Cyan Kane had taken control of my assets. That brings us to where we are now."

Everyone (Jaune and Ruby) took that in. Torchwick had actually survived two things that should've killed him. Then healed himself enough to walk, then came across a random deactivated shipment of AK-200s and reprogrammed them. After that he staked out at a hidden base plotting his revenge.

Still, how did he get Neo. "Wait, how did Neo ever find you?" Asked Ruby. "Ah, Neo also knew of the safe house's location. She came here, and it was quite a surprise for us to meet. A happy one though. It was lucky that you came around this area, I could never do this task with just me and Neo."

Jaune scoffed, "Yeah, well we're not a charity fund. The only reason we are even doing this is because-"

"Because you have no choice!" Roman cut him off. "Do you really think I wanted to work with Cindy? Not after I truly discovered her plans, if there are no kingdoms, then crime would not be too fun! I had no choice, she would of killed me and she will sure as hell kill me now… If she knows I'm alive. I'm not too fond of dying, already tried it. Look where it got me!"

"So is that it Roman?" Ruby asked. "Once you defeat your brother, you are just going to go back to running your criminal empire. Without a care of what will happen to anyone else?"

Roman scoffed, "Yeah Red? What would you have me do?" He stopped in the pathway waving his arms. "Become a huntsman? Save people? Do the right thing? I'm going to make this easy. You want to be a hero? Then die like every other huntsman in history. As for me, I'll do what I do best, lie, steal, cheat, and survive!"

Jaune turned around stabbing a finger into Roman's chest, "Yeah Roman? You do that, look where it's got you. You have nothing, you are nothing! You want to keep this life up? Go on ahead! However, you also have the choice to fight for what's right! Do something good for once! If you want to pass up such an opportunity go on ahead… but you can be so much more."

That had seemed to shut Roman up. The criminal wasn't too sure what to make of the offer. However much he would of liked to deny it, Jaune wasn't wrong.

"So… Red, what about your old team? The other ones who caused me so many problems." Asked Roman.

Ruby let out a saddened sigh, "Blake, Weiss… Yang. After the fall of Beacon, everything went south. Blake just, vanished. At first I thought she just needed time, but she never came back. Weiss, I'm not completely sure, but she was brought back to Atlas by her father… then the war began. Yang literally went rogue and, well, i'm not too sure. She never even tries to get in touch."

Jaune sent her a polite and sympathetic smile, "I'm sorry Ruby." Roman on the other hand was more inquisitive. "Ah, common Red, there was more to it than that. Your little team were bound together like peas in a pod! Something else must of happened."

Ruby scoffed, "It's none of your business Roman. Hell, I don't even know why we're talking like this. We are not friends, merely co-workers."

Roman simply laughed, "Aw Red! You're hurting my feelings. Yeah, we all hate each other. However, none of us really have much of a choice in the matter. So you might just want to get used to this. Small talk makes this long walk much more… enjoyable."

Ruby let out a cute growl. He wasn't wrong, they may hate each other, but if they were going to do this. They needed to do it together.

"I don't know what happened to Blake, or Weiss. I do know a bit about Yang though. She was rather pissed about the White Fang, and broken because of the fall of Beacon. She, despite my attempts to stop her, went rogue in the field. Started to carry out her own ops and hit the White Fang where it hurts." Ruby stated reluctantly.

"I on the other hand, remained to assist in securing the main city, then joined the VPA. Jaune had went into the field with his team for a good while. After Pyrrha's death, I met up with Jaune in Vale, then we just kinda… teamed up."

"Hey Roman." Jaune interjected. "How exactly did you learn to fight the way you do?"

Roman gave Jaune's question some thought. "Well kids, I was huntsman trained. Cyan and I went to signal. We actually got in through pure skill… Well, he did. I just forged transcripts."

Jaune snorted, "Somehow i'm not surprised."

"Yes, well, we trained in signal for some time. Eventually we both applied to Beacon, however, we were declined. I'm not too sure why Cyan and I were, but we were. After that, we kinda split off. I sought to be a criminal, sounded fun. Cyan… I'm not too sure where he went for all those years." Roman recollected.

A criminal, fun? Roman had to of been a madman. What type of person wanted to do this, other than a madman.

"Like I said." Roman continued. "I only do crime because it's fun. Unfortunately, the business deal with Cinder, went sideways. I don't want the whole world to burn, especially Vale. Crime is simple here, I like it."

That did make sense to Ruby and Jaune. Roman may of been a madman, but he was a criminal first and he can't be that if there is no crime. Or place to commit it.

Ruby's mind slipped off to Yang, now that Roman had brought her up, she couldn't get her sister off of her mind. She did love Yang, but Yang had truly changed. Even before she went out of contact.

Maybe it was the trauma from the fall of Beacon, maybe it was the shock and hurt of losing her arm, or her partner. Whatever it was, it changed Yang. She became so much more distant. That was so odd for Ruby. Yang had always been close and cheery.

Whatever Yang was doing now, Ruby just hoped she was alright. Hopefully one day, Yang would come back.

* * *

A blonde girl walked into a bar. Junior's bar. She was clad in a black/brown jacket laced with gold. Along with that she had black shorts, showing more bare leg that could catch any man's eye. Her defining feature was not in her beautiful attire or other assets, but in the yellow bracelets on her wrists. Anyone in the bar, knew what they did.

A man waved her over, Junior. "What do you want this time Blondie? I'm a bit busy this evening." He stood at a table, when she came over, they both took seats. A few henchmen gave her careful looks. Good, they better be careful.

"You know what I want honey." She held a hand out, "The files for White Fang movements"

Junior scoffed, "Lien first."

The blonde stared him in the eye for a good minute. The man growled handing over the documents. The blonde pushed lien into his hand in return.

He thumbed through it. "Hey, this is less than before!" Junior angrily said.

"Yes." Said the blonde. "Your information last time was… lacking."

Junior slammed his fist on a table, "Well I'm sorry Blondie, but there is no 100% guarantee that the information will still be valid by the time you do... what you do."

Blondie or Yang Xiao Long snorted, "Your information isn't exactly cheap Junior. No one will buy it if they don't believe that it's valid. I'd say that can be bad for business. Let's say you owe me a drink, and call it even. Strawberry Sunrise please."

Junior knew he had no choice. The last time the fiery blonde got angry, she trashed the bar and employees, completely. Crazy bitch must of cost him at least a half a million lien. He gestured to a waitress, "Two strawberry sunrises, on house."

Yang nodded her 'thanks', "Such a gentleman Junior." She was cocky, like he had a choice in the matter.

"Hey blondie, you know that your little adventures have cost me a small fortune. The White Fang used to buy from me, now they seemed to have… vanished" Junior was scowling. A few years ago Junior's was the place to go, now, not so much.

It worked well enough for Yang. She could get information and stay under the radar. A nervous waitress slid two drinks onto the table. Junior took a sip out of his, Yang sniffed it, then shrugged before doing the same.

Yang gave Junior a cute smile, her true nature masked in apparent innocence. He knew better. "Thanks Junior, hope you… stay in business. Would hate to lose such fine drinks." She downed the beverage.

The fiery blonde strutted out of the bar/nightclub, whatever it was. She let her mind wonder, how were things with Ruby? She felt bad about leaving her younger sister, but there were more pressing matters, right? Ruby is more than capable to take care of herself. That's what Ruby always said.

Still, there was a pang of guilt. She had been completely out of contact, from everyone. It bothered her more than she would've liked to admit. It was that exact distraction that blinded her from being prepared for what came next.

A dust bullet smashed into her aura, catching her off guard and causing her to stumble. Damn her senses, she should of been quick to react. However her attacker did not take immediate advantage of her being stunned.

A man landed in front of her. He wore a brown overcoat, rather ragged with dirty stains. He also had a black cloak around that, and under both appeared to be padded armor. His belt, visible under his overcoat, had many types of dust vials and magazines. On his head he wore a wide chocolate brown hat, the shadow of it concealed the features of his face.

Another notable thing about this man was the weapon he possessed. Ruby would of had a fit, it was a dust railgun. The weapon transformed into its melee form. It was a metallic staff weapon with blades on each end. Interesting choice, this man had huntsman training.

Four figures stepped out of the shadows adjacent of him. They were in civilian clothes, but the masks gave it away. White Fang. She hated them.

The four grunts drew weapons and stood a defensive position. Ember Celica deployed on Yang's wrists, the golden gauntlets gave a tiny 'click' that made Yang grin in satisfaction.

She unleashed a volley of exactly four rounds, might as well take out the grunts quickly. The man's staff spun in a circular motion deflecting the rounds before they could make their mark. Yang scowled in an annoyed manner.

This time she charged the man, he simply stopped Ember Celica with a blade of his staff. He then proceeded to kick Yang in her stomach. She fell back with a wince, dust infused boots. "Well, shit."

The man gave her a sadistic grin barely visible. His grunts moved to surround her. "Shit indeed." His deep voice mocked. "There is quite the price on your head. I'll gladly remove it for you."

Yang knew she had a problem, this man had to of been a mercenary of sorts, maybe a professional hitman. She really did piss someone off.

Seriously, she was in a damn city and there isn't anyone around. No huntsman or cops or anything, the slum districts suck.

The man didn't move as the grunts moved in, they were 'assurance' and he didn't care about them. Yang easily ducked under their meaningful but clumsy swings. She landed solid hits on all of them, knocking the amateurs out of submission.

She looked over to the man with a grin, he was gone. Where did that damn man go? She was answered by a blur of spinning blades from behind. She barely could bring Ember Celica around in time to block any of the hits.

Then he withdrew his attack. Why, he had the advantage, why not push it? She decided it might be best to launch a normally crippling offence. A barrage of hooks and jabs, a few kicks and blasts from Ember Celica. They… were all blocked. Impossible, even the most trained huntsman couldn't deflect ALL of those attacks!

There was an answer, he could have some sort of semblance to put up an insane defence. That was only speculation, and not one that bode well for her.

It was his turn, he swung his staff in a bashing overhead strike, blocked by Yang. His strength was notable, but Yang was strong in that regard. She went to punch him, in the face, where else?

His speed was impressive, blurring around her strike. His next move she reacted to out of instinct. Maneuvering a gauntlet behind her she deflected his next strike. The man flashed backwards in speed that rivaled Ruby's. He weapon folded back together into the compact form of his railgun.

That was an issue for Yang, such weapons were not widely used, but very powerful. Many had created weapons in their image, but only the best used such a weapon, and few did.

The brilliant flashes erupting from his weapon smashed into Yang, she was a target in the open. She rolled to the side and fired explosive blasts from Ember Celica. Her opponent moved in similar manner. They were deadlocked in a firefight.

Then he was gone, literally into the shadows. She carefully looked around. Had he ran? Hunh, that was weird, but frightening. WHACK!

A staff's bladed end smashed into her and sent her tumbling. It had come from above. She could see the man on a roof. His weapon was now on the ground, she could reach it. As she got up to take his weapon, the man jumped off the roof connecting a boot into her face for his landing. He bent down and picked up his weapon.

She laid sprawled on the ground. Wow that had really hurt! He stepped over her, as he brought his staff up for a critical blow, the area was flooded in light. Two bullheads hovered over them, likely to check out the commotion in the area. Thankfully it was the Valean People's Army.

One of the bullheads swooped in for a landing, the man knew he was in trouble. He dashed away in a blur, vanishing into the shadows. He would most definitely be back, she could count on that.

On the other hand, she was in trouble as well. She was a rogue huntress, supposed to be in the VPA's service. A type of court martial was in order. Maybe she could get Ozpin to come through for her. This was bad.

* * *

Dusk was setting over Sanus, well, the Valean part of it at least. The dysfunctional team RNJR decided to make camp. Jaune and Ruby laid out their respective sleeping bags. Ruby glanced over to Roman and Neo, she heard a loud WOOSH!

Her jaw dropped, "Wha- What is that!" Roman smirked. "This Red, is an dust powered air mattress." Her envy was unmistakable. She had to get one of those!

"So Roman." It was Jaune who spoke. "Are you and Ice Cream girl a thing?" Roman gave him a questioning look, then laughed. "Ah nah, I may be quite a… charismatic individual. However I think it has something to do with fate, I never can be in a lasting relationship."

Jaune gave the criminal a rather rude snort. "I wonder why. 'He ya wanna run away with me and set the world on fire?'"

"Fuck off." Was his response and the bird from Neo, as she blew up her own mattress. Something told Jaune it was going to be a long night. He laid flat on his bag and shut his eyes.

Something warm slid up next to him, "What the he-" He was cut off by a finger over his lips. Neo. This multicolored female was going to drive him nuts. He heard a small chuckle from Roman, "Heh, looks like Neo's taking a liking to you."

Jaune groaned, "Is that a good thing?"

"No"

He thought so. The girl slipped away leaving him to his thoughts. He missed an annoyed and almost jealous look from the girl in red. His thoughts slipped into dreams.


	4. Chapter 4, Cyan Kane

**So much fun writing this! Please, enjoy!**

 **CYAN KANE**

The sun rose over moist green Valean treelines. Team RNJR awoke with a yawn. Then after giving each other either dirty or awkward looks, began to pack up what little they had.

It was one thing to work with an old enemy for a common good. However, it was a whole other thing to sleep with them, and spend large amounts of time with them.

Ruby was trying to remember how many times Torchwick had almost killed her, or her teammates. She was still not entirely convinced of Roman's story. He seemed to of changed for the better in some ways. That's not very Torchwick like of him.

She remembered his last words, "As for me, I'll do what I do best. Lie! Cheat! Steal! And Survive!" Roman seemed like the type of man to hold to that, not let it go so easily. He would undoubtedly attempt to backstab them at some point, once he decided he didn't need them any more.

We could backstab him first, Ruby thought. No, they would be no better than him. She couldn't do it. Jaune might. Forget might, she wouldn't be surprised if he did.

Of course, most wouldn't dare fight a rogue like him in his own field. However, there was no other choice. He did possess the information they needed and he needed them to take back what's his.

It was a shame that Ozpin's attempt to take back Beacon failed. Speaking of Ozpin, what she never could figure out how he survived the fall. It seemed that anyone could come back from the dead. Ironic how Roman lived and it was Pyrrha who died. Even more so it wasn't even the events at the fall that killed her, she was killed by an effect of the aftermath of the fall.

If the war never happened, they would have not been in that situation and Jaune would of not… neutralized her. Thinking of Pyrrha, Ruby's mind couldn't stop focusing on that at times. She still had mixed feelings about what Jaune had told her, told them all.

His secret, accidentally slaying the young champion. It was obvious he never forgave himself, it was likely that he never would, or could.

Ruby then thought about herself, she was once so… naive. Yes, she was too blind to see what was right in front of her. A plot unfolding right before her eyes. A major player in such plot now stood before her, within striking distance. Oh how she wanted to lash out and end his pitiful existence.

However, she knew she couldn't, she couldn't just… kill a man without probable cause. Of course most would of called his past atrocities cause enough to end him. Somehow, after all she had been through, she still saw good in people.

Taking Jaune for example, she knew how dangerous her friend is. However, despite this, she knew Jaune was at heart, a good person. She remembered her first day at Beacon Academy, and first setting foot on the stone pathways and looking up to the reaching spires.

That was the day she met Weiss and blew up. She remembered a smiling blonde guy, reaching down to help her up. He was not too proud to help a fellow student and at that a girl two years younger than him.

Jaune was not always the man he was now and because of that, gave her reason to believe the man he had become, is not what he truly is. The goofy caring blonde who had to take up the challenging role of leading team JNPR.

The boy who was also bottom of the class, the one she befriended and spent time with. Shared some memorable moments with. There was undoubtedly potential in the boy, she saw it, so did Ozpin. It seemed to of paid off.

"Hey." A voice brought her out of her thoughts. It was Jaune. Ruby gave him a half hearted smile. "Hey Jaune, good morning! Are we about ready to get moving?" She asked.

Jaune nodded. They both turned to their companions and began the final stretch of their rather short journey to Beacon Estate. Ruby supposed it was Beacon Estate now, not really much of an academy left.

* * *

Cyan Kane was growing impatient, his assassin should be back by now. A single solid knock hit his door. Cyan raised a brow, took a drink of bourbon. "Come in."

A stoic man dressed in a brown overcoat stepped into the room. "Were you successful? Asked Cyan. The mans scowl had been apparent, giving Cyan the answer. "VPA, got there not long after we started fighting. I'm good, but the VPA is not part of this deal."

Cyan was rather frustrated, but nodded. He understood the difficulty of carrying out tasks in Vale. "Jack, I NEED her taken care of, she's been causing us a number of problems." He tapped an intercom button on his desk.

"Colonel Grayson, please report to my office." Moments later a massive man in a White Fang uniform entered the small room. "Colonel, I want you to take your men and support Mr. Brown in eliminating this Xiao Long girl." Ordered Cyan.

"Excuse me Mr. Kane, but if I mobilize my men, that would leave Beacon nearly defenseless."

Cyan scowled, "I DON'T CARE, I WANT HER GONE!"

Grayson saluted, "We'll get rid of her then sir!"

Jack Brown left with the White Fang. Cyan watched them leave in a small fleet of bullheads, Cyan was beginning to question his choice of sending practically his whole army after the blonde bitch. He wouldn't dare recall any of them though, it would look bad, make him look weak to them.

He was now only left with himself and a small group of White Fang guards. Small meaning about 4-5, honestly not enough.

He lit a cigar, letting the smoke run through his system. The stockpile of cigars left behind were favorable. Roman had good tastes.

Beacon may be mostly destroyed, but there were some nice rooms still available. They managed to make a basecamp out of it. Stay clear of the Grimm, and SHE ordered them not to bother them.

Cyan found a comfortable chair outside of his office, glancing into the semi-cloudy sky. He took another puff of his cigar. What would be Ozpin's next move? If there was another attack on Beacon's ruins, he would be helpless to a B-3 or large number of huntsmen.

* * *

Team RNJR had a clear view of the crumbled walls of Beacon Academy. They were only able to spot 5 sentries. An awfully small force for guarding such a large area. Roman himself would personally looking for Cyan.

They were hidden in a lightly forested area, close to the ruins. They were able to avoid the Grimm thus far, but their luck was bound to run out soon. "So Red, are you going to be able to pick off those sentries?" Asked Roman.

Ruby shot the man an amused smirk, "Easy." Ruby lined up her sniper-scythe into position. She would take out the sentries then they would all converge on Cyan at once. Jaune eyed the area with binoculars, so few guards, it was almost too easy.

They all noticed Roman had broken into a light laugh, "Heh, certainty of death, small chance of success. What are we waiting for!"

Jaune followed by Neo and Roman crawled through the tall uncut grass, drawing closer to the old academy. Neo had a camouflage esque tight jacket on while Roman wore a black vest, ditching his easily visible white coat. Jaune had rubbed mud all over his once shiny armor. They had to reach the academy unseen.

As they drew closer Jaune slipped the assault rifle off of his back. He could hear Roman muttering complaints about getting muddy. The rubble piles and crumbled pillars once known as Beacon Academy stood before them.

Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Five consecutive shots rang out. 5 Sentries dropped.

Jaune, Neo and Roman rushed to their feet and blitzed into the ruins. Some structures were better off than others. Cyan would be in one of them, and no doubt alerted to their presence.

Each of the members, save for Ruby, kicked in different doors. There was a possibility they would catch the man off guard. This was to no prevail as Cyan was nowhere to be found.

There was a loud cough that caught Jaune's attention, from behind. A foot connected with his spine propelling him through a wall. He turned around letting loose a volley from his rifle, there was no one there.

Neo appeared beside him. "He's here Neo, bastard caught me by surprise." Jaune coughed. A man stepped into view, he gave a light chuckle. "Another hunter?" He looked to Neo, "And… you." This must've been Cyan.

Jaune could see a similarity to Roman in his facial composition. His clothes were of interesting nature consisting of a purple suit and… green hair? Seemed to him like that old villain the Jester, in Catman movies.

He fired a barrage from his rifle, but Cyan evaded the attacks. Jaune threw his gun aside, and drew his blade surging forth at his opponent. Sword clashed against cane as Cyan blocked Jaune's attack. Jaune's greater strength pushing Cyan backwards.

Neo joined in on Cyan's flank, both her and Jaune trading blows with the man. They needed Roman and Ruby in the fray! "GET DOWN!" Jaune heard a voice yell behind him, he dropped.

A red dust blast whistled over him and struck Cyan knocking the man back. Roman Torchwick stepped up behind Jaune. Cyan's eyes narrowed upon seeing his presumably 'dead' brother.

"Surprised?" Roman quipped. "Roman… I thought you were dead. Either way, it doesn't matter now. You soon shall be." Cyan scowled raising his cane into firing position.

His finger began to squeeze the trigger, but a force knocked the barrel to the side causing him to miss. Ruby appeared, scythe deployed.

"Four against one, now it's a fair fight!" Cyan snarled as he surged forward ducking under a swing from Jaune. He kicked Roman and smashed his cane into Neo, he then brought the weapon back upwards to deflect an attack from Ruby.

All of team RNJR struck at once, a thin blade, a sword, a cane and scythe aimed at the same target. Cyan then activated his semblance, he phased through the attacks and appeared behind Ruby.

At the close quarters he disarmed the unsuspecting huntress then deployed his cane-sword, leveling it to her throat. The sharp edge, pushing into her aura, and prodding past it. Roman, Jaune and Neo formed up in front of the two. Jaune drew his dust pistol.

"Yield, or the bitch dies." Spat Cyan. Jaune let out a steady breath, his time in the VPA had made his an extremely good shot. A small grin crept onto his face. Jaune squeezed the trigger. The premium dust round connected with Cyan's thin blade, snapping it in half. The man's eyes flashed in surprise!

Ruby took advantage of the moment to use her semblance and speed away from the man. She looked to Crescent Rose but it spasmed badly, one of the mechanics must have something stuck in them! She wished she wasn't so useless without her weapon.

Cyan reattached his hilt to the base cane. "You'll pay for that boy!" The man rushed Jaune with more speed than ever before, his attacks flying so fast Jaune couldn't keep up. The rest of RNJR had no time to react. Jaune couldn't even activate his semblance.

Thankfully Jaune was partially protected by his strong armor. He could feel it, his aura was less than half. Cyan's relentless assault had stopped however… because someone stood in the way. Ruby stood in front of him taking the brunt of Cyan's attacks.

Jaune stepped forward screaming and swinging Crocea Mors in a wild fashion at Cyan. No one was going to get hurt in his stead. With Roman and Neo both rejoining the fight, they began to push Cyan back.

Cyan knew that even with his skill and semblance, he was in a losing fight. He was a dualist and few could beat him one on one. However, with them all combined, he was having difficulty. He tapped the distress beacon on his arm panel, hopefully one of their bullheads in the area would get to him soon.

Neo struck out with her thin blade, but Cyan phased through it. Then he grabbed her arm with his left and with his cane in his right, slammed the weapon into the girl's elbow. Roman heard the sickening crack.

"Neo!" Roman yelled in distress. His eyes locked into his brothers. A pissed look that Cyan had seen very few times in his life. Roman stepped forward once, then again, then again, swinging his cane with precision targeting weaker areas in Cyan's defense.

Ruby helped Neo while Jaune assisted Roman. Unfortunately Cyan was better than his brother. Cyan swept Roman's feet out from under him, sending Roman to the floor, then knocked him out with a swift strike to the head!

Jaune and Cyan backed away from each other, and began to circle one another like sharks. "Stop now boy, I am more skilled in a dual. Don't make me hurt you." Cyan stated with confidence. Jaune knew the man would try to kill him either way.

"That's funny, because I'm at my best in a dual as well." Jaune said with a sneer of disgust. Their circling motion slowly began to close in on itself.

The gleaming blade of Jaune's ancestral sword flashed at Cyan. It was parried, but followed by another similar attack. The two weapons collided locking together, a contest of strength that Jaune was bound to win.

Jaune's superior strength pushing the cane back, and the edge of Crocea Mors drew closer to Cyan's face. Then with his remaining strength, Cyan pushed the sword to the side and used the opening to strike.

A small dagger streaked from Cyan's other hand and dug into Jaune's gut, penetrating his aura and the armor plating! Jaune fell to the ground with a cry of surprise. His oddly dressed adversary stood over him.

Cyan raised his cane above his head ready to strike Jaune and end the fight once and for all. Suddenly Cyan was sent flying! At first, in the blur Jaune didn't know what to make of it. He looked around to see Roman beginning to regain consciousness and Neo cradling her arm.

Ruby! She had maxed out her semblance and turned her body into a weapon! Cyan was taken completely by surprise.

Jaune picked himself up, he clutched his injured gut. Cyan was leaning against a rock, his aura flickering madly, dribbles of blood dripped from his mouth. Ruby was on her hands and knees trying to pick herself up.

Cyan threw his remaining strength into a devastating kick at Ruby's middle, she cried out and dropped to the ground gasping for air. Cyan took the advantage of the moment limping away from the scene. No one was in the condition to pursue him.

Jaune heard a bullhead roar over them as it dropped down to pick up Cyan. He could tell, they would be seeing this man again. Likely sooner than later.

He limped over to Ruby, she had passed out. The exertion of aura and her semblance had done her in. Jaune flinched as he threw her over his shoulder. The grimm would be coming soon.

"Hey, I called in a bullhead from one of the people still loyal to me. It should be here soon. I'll get you that ride to mistral, but after that we are going to have to part ways." Roman said to Jaune finally having regained consciousness.

Jaune nodded his thanks, it was surprising Roman was helping them like this. He laid Ruby down in a safe area and slumped down next to her. Dabbing some water from his canteen onto a rag and laid it on her forehead.

His own wound would heal due to his aura. He hoped that bullhead would get there soon.

* * *

"Oz!" A gruff voice said from behind the former Headmaster. "Yes Qrow?" Ozpin responded calmly. Qrow threw a report on Ozpin's desk, "I don't know what it was, but something was happening at Beacon. A fight or something, then some bullheads pulled out!"

Ozpin pinched the bridge of his nose. If Atlas was striking Beacon and had taken it, that would be an extreme strategic advantage on Vale. On the other hand, it may not be Atlas at all.

"Qrow, travel with one of the B-3s and an escort of bullheads, I would like to know what is going on at Beacon. It would be advantageous to us if we can once again secure the academy." Ozpin ordered. Qrow nodded, "I'll do what I can."

Qrow left the room and left Ozpin to his thoughts. Beacon would be under his control once again, if they could regain Beacon, they could get the CCT running. If they could get the CCT running, maybe, just maybe they could make peace with Atlas.

Any envoys they had sent in the past were shot down, or eaten by the Grimm. This war was a complication to everything, it was 'necessary' as far as the council was concerned. However, it took them away from more important matters like the maidens or the relic.

Beacon was needed, Vale needed more huntsmen. With the Grimm at large and the war, even other rogue elements, huntsmen were coming in high demand.

With Beacon gone, it would be much more difficult to train more. However, if they regained Beacon, it would help astronomically. He would just have to wait now… wait and see.

* * *

Yang was in the village of Upbright, not far from Vale and secured by its natural barrier of a shallow lake and the people's hardened resolve. Why was she there? Rogue White Fang elements were said to be operating there.

She was worried that it was simply another load of bad information. She had seen no signs of the terrorist faction. There was one last place, a faunus bar.

Interesting fact about Upbright, racial tension had always been high. After the attack on Beacon, faunus were even more hated. Faunus were not allowed in nicer human bars, so they made their own poor excuse for one.

The Horned Rat Saloon. Read the sign. Yang pushed the door open and stepped in. It couldn't of been seconds before she was stopped by a buff dog faunus, that and everyone in the saloon staring her down.

"We don't serve your kind here!" Spat the dog faunus. Yang raised a brow, "You don't serve faunus?" The man hesitated then frowned, "You… don't seem like a faunus. What are your attributes? What are you?"

Yang coughed, "Heh, well it's a bit private. Not public knowledge." She said pointing a finger to her prominent chest. Then the man made a mistake by moving a hand toward her breast. "Eh, gotta 'check'."

His hand was stopped by her iron grip. "Chameleon."

"Eh?"

Her eyes flashed red, "See chameleon faunus."

"But you your eyes aren't su- ARRGGGHHHH!" The man cried in pain as she snapped his wrist and threw him aside. Everyone in the bar jumped up. Yang shrugged, "Hey he was going to touch me."

The faunus in the bar looked around, then shrugged and went back to their drinks. They didn't care that much, plus she did say she was a faunus after all. No human would 'stoop' to such a level.

"So" she looked to the bartender, "Where can I sign up for the White Fang around here?" The man groaned, "Listen missy, us faunus around here, we may not like our treatment. However, we don't wanna make it worse by actually warring with the humans. If you want the White Fang, you won't find them here." Yang nodded her thanks.

She walked out disappointed. Shame, she really was hoping to kick some White Fang ass. There was a roar above her, large lights shown down onto her. Yang looked up to see a small fleet of bullheads. She was going to get her fight.

"Well... shit."


	5. Chapter 5, Never Rest

**NEVER REST**

Jaune woke up with a jolt. He viewed his surroundings. A girl was sleeping up against a steely wall, Ruby. He then realized the whole room was shaking. They were on a bullhead.

He remembered now, Roman had offered them one of his bullheads to Mistral. He didn't remember getting on. All he could recollect is being exhausted after his fight, he still was. The bullhead shook violently again. There was a mutter from Ruby, who had not yet woken up.

Another violent shake. Jaune rose to his feet and walked to the cockpit. Then he realized something was seriously wrong. There were no pilots, the nav computer said they were somewhere over Mistral, very, very high up. Little fuel.

Jaune checked the bullhead for parachutes to find that there were none. "Damnit… Ruby, wake up!" He shook the girl awake. She woke with a startle, "Jaune? What is it?" She asked.

"We are on a bullhead very high above Mistral. We are running out of fuel, but… there are no pilots… or parachutes." The knight responded.

Her eyes flashed alert in panic. Jaune ran back into the cockpit, grabbing the controls. Their fuel was dreadfully low, he wouldn't be able to land it properly. "I'm going to try to take us down, but we are probably going to crash -erm- 'controlled landing'. Take the co-pilot seat we need all the control we can get."

Ruby followed his order taking the co-pilot seat. The bullhead blew through the clouds, below them appeared to be a heavily forested area.

Jaune pulled up hard one the controls, but they lacked the fuel to defy gravity. What he did do, was level out the ship for hopefully an even crash. It wasn't like he had a license to be a glorified bus driver!

The bullhead continued its 'controlled' descent, it then brushed the treeline. Branches smashed into the hull of the airship. They then hit smaller trees knocking them down, then the ground. The jolt of hitting the ground would have greatly harmed any average person, luckily they had aura.

Jaune and Ruby dragged themselves out of the bullhead with their weapons in hand. They had to get away from the wreckage, the Grimm would close in on it shortly. Jaune took one look back at the crash, to see the crumpled bullhead with its wings torn off and hull like discarded paper.

He and Ruby had one arm draped over one another for support. Their only focus was to get away before the Grimm showed, and hopefully find a village.

Pain surged through Jaune's body, mostly from the crash but he was still hurting from the fight with Cyan. Ruby didn't appear to be in any better condition, her fair face was slightly bruised (though her aura was working to fix that) and she looked exhausted.

They drug each other along, but they were stopped by the edge of a rather steep hill. They tried to turn around, but were welcomed by the sight of multiple Grimm. That wouldn't of been an issue if they had been in much of a condition to fight.

"Uh, Ruby. You are not going to like this. Do you trust me?" Jaune asked the red reaper. Ruby took a look at her surroundings, "I do, what are you thinking?"

Jaune let out a small chuckle, "Free falling."

Ruby's eyes shot wide in a panic, "Hell no you don-"

She was cut of by Jaune grabbing her and diving down the hillside. This is when he learned, armor helped stop pokey stuff, not fall damage.

They were sent tumbling down the hill smashing into logs and trees alike. Thank any deity of Remnant they had aura, and there wasn't a lot of that.

Jaune knew his aura was stronger than Ruby's, so he wrapped himself around her so he would take the most 'punishment'. He flared his aura and activated his semblance, protecting both of them.

 _Smack_ , a tree. _Whap,_ a branch. _Crack_ , a log. They finally reached the bottom of the hill, Jaune let out an uncomfortable groan. His hazy cobalt eyes squinted open, to see a boy standing over him.

The boy had greenish golden eyes, a freckled face and messy hair, along with a white shirt and dirty gloves. He must of been a local. "Ugh…" Jaune groaned. The boy frowned, "Ummm, hi?"

Ruby pushed Jaune off of her gasping for air. She extended a hand, "Hi I'm Ruby Rose. Who might you be?" The boy shook her bruised hand causing her to flinch. "I'm Oscar, Oscar Pine. You're lucky I came across you while I was out reading." They now noticed he had a book in his other hand.

"You are welcome to come to my farm, we can get you cleaned up and a meal." Oscar took another look at them. "You're Hunters, right? I haven't seen you around these parts. Where are you from."

They might not get very far if they started saying they were from Vale, Jaune thought. Ruby smiled at Oscar, "Oh, we are Hunters fro-" Jaune clasped a hand over her mouth. "Hunters from Mistral, the capital. We were hunting some Grimm out this way." Jaune answered.

Oscar raised a brow at the apparent antics, but decided not to press the situation. "Well… come with me, get rested up in no time!" Jaune and Ruby followed the boy. They would not forget what Torchwick did to them, he would pay.

* * *

She ran, she ran for her life. White Fang assault force was chasing her. Seriously, this was overkill, the Yang Xiao Long may be the best around, but a small army was overkill!

More bullets ricocheted off of the wall next to her as she turned down another street. She had to get to her bike and haul ass out of town. Her eyes met the parking lot where she left the golden-yellow motor bike.

Two White Fang guards were checking out her bike, sucks for them. She blasted two rounds from Ember Celica, hitting the guards. Before she hopped onto her bike, she noticed one of the soldiers had a scroll.

Yang grabbed the scroll and jumped onto the bike. The bike ripped out of the town with bullheads in pursuit, but she was confident she could lose them in the forest.

Her bike sped into a much thicker tree line. The road was not able to be seen from the sky, and the bullheads began to break off and return to wherever they were from.

She unlocked the scroll, idiots didn't even have a password. She looked through the device, music, weapons, operations. Ah, operations was what she needed. It looked like they were working on a new operation in Mistral, those soldiers were from Vale, but they had larger branches in Mistral.

She had her next target… it was time to take a trip to Mistral. Stop for some gas, get a quick boat ride to Mistral, piece of cake. She had plenty of lien.

She continued to ride for some time before turning on the radio.

 _Faunus unrest raises across Valean controlled territories. Many blame the faunus for the White Fang attack on Beacon Academy. We have also received word that there was a White Fang raid in Upbright, resulting in no civilian casualties._

 _In other news, the Branwen tribe is said to be back at it again with more raids, though most of these have been contained to Mistral, there are numerous cases in Vale as well._

Damn her mother, bitch cared more about her 'tribe' than her own daughter. That was ok though, Yang didn't need a mother. She could take care of herself, right?

 _Lastly, we have a report on a sudden attack on the fallen Beacon Academy. Most recently Beacon was in the control of not only the White Fang but also and unknown element. There was an attack led by a group of unknown people on the Academy freeing the territory to neutral control. The VPA is mobilizing forces to re-secure the old Academy once more!_

Now that, that was interesting! If Beacon was retaken, the CCT could be rebuilt, and new huntsmen and huntresses trained! She cou-. No, she was not going back to Beacon. Not until she found and killed every last 'military' leader of the White Fang.

She rode quietly for some more time, stopping for fuel, then continuing on. She finally came to the docks on the edge of Valean territory, one of the docks not bombed by Atlas. There was a boat waiting and picking up some refugees.

Technically no one was supposed to leave Vale, and Mistral was not willingly taking on people. That didn't stop ships from dropping people off on the coastline though, for a price of course. She was dreadfully tired from her long drive, Yang needed rest, no better way to get it than on a boat ride.

Two men in trench coats walked up to her. "You need a ride to Mistral miss?" They asked. Yang gave them a cute smile, "Yes, that would be very nice. I was robbed of most of my lien coming here though. I only have 50 lien."

The larger man scratched the back of his head, "The uh- the trip is 100 lien minimum." She gave him a pleading look, slipping a minor show of clevage, "Oh please, could we compromise?" She smaller man pushed in front of his comrade, "Of course ma'm 50 lien will be fine."

Yang smiled and offered her thanks. Those idiots, if she was robbed, she wouldn't be driving an extremely expensive bike. She pulled out 50 lien and handed it to them, carefully concealing all of her other funds.

Yang rolled her bike onto the ship and laid down next to it. She closed her eyes for a nap, she would be in Mistral by morning.

* * *

It was late when Oscar pushed open the door to his barn, "This is where I live, well, my room is upstairs. Please make yourself at home." The soft hay would suffice for a bed. "Thank you Oscar for your hospitality." Ruby said respectively. "We would likely be Grimm bait if not for you." Jaune simply gave a low grunt.

Oscar gave Ruby one last glance and a small smile, then walked out. Jaune and Ruby sat their weapons against the wall. They each plopped down on a haystack. Ruby let out a tired sigh, "Thanks for what you did back there, with your semblance." Jaune waved her off, "Don't mention it, I would be dead if you didn't save my ass from Cyan."

There was a moment of silence, but I was Jaune who broke it.

"Ruby…"

"Jaune…"

He smirked, "Rolls of the tongue, ladies love it."

"I know I do." Ruby said softly under her breath. "What?!" Jaune asked surprised.

"N-nothing!" Ruby blushed, cursing herself for saying that outloud. She was more mature than this! "No, I heard what you said, and well, I know Ruby Rose. I know my partner." Jaune stated still smirking.

"I don't know what you are talking about!" Ruby defiantly stated.

"You've always been a friend to me Ruby, no matter what from the moment I met you. You've always been close to me, even after the fall of Beacon." Her blush reddened, he was actually going there!

"Always a close friend… but, you wanted to be something more didn't you? From the beginning… You want to be something more, don't you?" Jaune asked. Ruby went into critical failure mode in her head, she was not ready for did he have to be so... amazing!

He looked her in the eye and inched closer. "Ruby Rose… you have silver eyes."

"T-that's what Ozpin said."

"They are beautiful." He inched closer.

"You just noticed?" She questioned.

"Always noticed, just never been so mesmerized by something like it." A tad bit closer, their noses a mere inch apart.

"Then I guess you know." She moved forward, their noses touched.

"Yup." With that Jaune took her face in one hand and her waist in another. He tilted his head and locked both of them in a kiss. Her lips were absurdly soft, and slightly moist. They contained a faint taste of… strawberries?

There was a crash as the doors to the barn were kicked in revealing Oscar balancing plates of food. Ruby launched herself away from Jaune and crashed into a haystack adjacent to him. Jaune simply wore a smug grin and a satisfyingly dazed look in his eyes.

Oscar set the plates down on wooden crates, "It's not much but it should fill you guys up and have you back on your feet in no time." Jaune grumbled something between a thank you and a line of complaints. Ruby gave Oscar a cute smile of gratitude and grabbed a plate.

Oscar got his own plate and sat with them, "So, do you guys have any awesome tales? With being Huntsmen and all!"

Ruby shook her head, "Sorry Oscar, this life really isn't always what the movies make it out to be."

Jaune chuckled, "Would you believe me if I told you we were on a quest to save the kingdoms and bring evildoers to justice, all while defeating the Grimm?"

"Nope. To cliche."

Jaune just laughed, "Heh, me neither. Anyway, where can a man find the shitter around here?" He grumbled with a piece of bread hanging out of his mouth.

Oscar pointed him to the door, "Stall, outside."

Jaune left the room, leaving Oscar and Ruby alone.

"S-so… Um Ruby right? What uh, made such a beautiful girl such as yourself to become a Huntress?"

Ruby smiled, "I wanted to be like a hero in the story books, well, it was that way when I was younger. However… things changed." Her eyes teared up just slightly as she remembered Beacon and Penny, and her team, but Oscar caught it. He didn't know about her experience at fall of Beacon of course. Or at least didn't know she was there.

He reached out to put an arm around her, but the sleeve of his shirt was caught by a steel dagger and pinned to a wood column. He gave a girlish squeal and a startled look to Jaune who had re-entered. "Whoops. It slipped." (He holds record time for shitting.)

Oscar gave an awkward chuckle and pulled the knife out of the column. The boy went back to eating his meal. Ruby was trying to hold back her laughter at Oscar's expression. She tried, she failed.

Oscar's demoralized expression met rock bottom upon hearing Ruby laugh at him. He coughed and stood up with his plate, "I am going to my room, I'm sure we will meet in the morning. Goodnight."

Jaune waved and Ruby smiled, "Goodnight Oscar! Thank you." The boy disappeared into his room. Jaune took off his armor, now only realizing how sore he really was. That fall had taken it's toll on him.

He snuggled into the straw, it was cooler outside than he expected. Damn Mistralian air. He then felt a figure lie down next to him, cuddling into his shoulder. "Is this ok?" Ruby asked. "It's fine." Jaune responded with the hint of a smile. Ruby beamed and nestled her nose into his neck.

She was beautiful, he wouldn't lie. However, he also wouldn't risk getting emotionally attached right now with everything at stake. He did ask himself one question. Did he love Ruby Rose?

He loved being around her, spending time with her, her company. She was an admirable fighter but also a good person at heart. He may not admit it when around her, but in her presence his heart rate jumped. Like right now.

Maybe he did love her, or it is just a silly day dream. But still, maybe there was hope there. Hope for the future. For now, he had to focus on getting to the capital of Mistral. After he got some much needed rest.

* * *

Roman Torchwick paced back and forth. He was now back at his stronghold. He couldn't help but feel guilty about what he did to Red and the Arc kid, but he didn't have much of a choice. After the airship carrying Jaune and Ruby left, Roman was approached by a man who made him a deal.

Roman knew the man was no average huntsman, he was a rogue. Roman knew his own kind. Money wasn't the type of thing Roman could be turned by, he could always acquire his own. However, manpower, dust, AND the funds necessary to get his Criminal empire off the ground. That wasn't something he would likely refuse.

All he had to do was call the bullhead pilot before he got out of the area and tell him to bail on Jaune and Ruby once they got over Mistral. Roman figured the crash wouldn't kill them, but the Grimm probably would. They would be drawn to the crash.

After all, lie, cheat, steal, survive. That's how he made his living before, why should he change now. There still was some strange pang of guilt, but he would continue to ignore it.

Beacon would soon be back in the hands of Vale and everything would be as normal as it could be, with Vale and Atlas at war at least. Roman would build up his assets once more and, when he was ready, would head to Mistral to hunt down his brother.

There was a knock on the door, his guest had arrived. He waited in the main room leaning on his cane for the man to enter. Neo was in bed getting her arm fixed right. A man in a black suit and bright red tie entered.

"Ah, Junior Xiong. It's a pleasure to know that you arrived safely." Roman stated. Junior continued to scowl, "Yeah, well, it wasn't easy getting here. I swear the VPA has its eye on me. Aren't you supposed to be dead?"

Roman just laughed, "Not even the Grimm could keep me in one place for long. Say Junior old pal, how about we strike a deal!"

Junior continued to steadily eye him, there were two men dressed similarly some distance behind him. They were on edge. "What do you propose?"

Roman continued to smile charismatically. "Well Junior, I am in dire need of men, equipment and assets. I have more lien than you would need to fund that bar of yours for the rest of your life and enough dust to make the VPA drool."

Junior obviously didn't believe him, "There is no way you have that much dust. With the war and all, there isn't enough!"

A set of Atlesian Knight 200's approached carrying stacks of briefcases. They laid the cases on the ground, opened them up and revealed the staggering amount of crystals. Junior's jaw hit the floor.

"T-this is insane! We have a deal! My men are available at your command, I will need a million lien for… insurance." Junior exclaimed, still shocked.

"Nah, nah, nah. 750,000 lien. Then we have a deal." Roman countered.

Junior gave it a second thought, then nodded in agreement.

Roman stuck out a finger, "One more thing, I… lost some people in Mistral. Have your contacts see if they can track down a Jaune Arc, he should be with a girl in red."

Now he could see Juniors hesitation, so Roman continued his smile, Junior grumbled in agreement and turned to leave.

Roman was satisfied, all was going to plan. He loved his semblance, surrounded passively by an aura of charisma, how resourceful when making deals. How resourceful indeed.

 **I know in RWBY Jaune's semblance is healing, but not here kiddies! I considered making the change but honestly, i like this semblance of temporary supercharged aura or 'invulnerability' much more. I am saying this due to the most recent releases in Vol. 5.**

 **And there you have it, the end of chapter 5, AND Roman's semblance stated.**

 **I will continue to write this in my free time, hopefully the next chapter will be next week, but no promises!**


	6. IMPORTANT

HELLO! I know that I am the worst when it comes to updates, not getting paid makes it really hard to continue. Additionally I've taken a lot of time off of writing fanfiction so that I can work on my novels. Recently, I have joined onto a account in which there will be constant updates due to the fact that I am not the only one writing on the account. Please check it out, there will be a large variety of content available as time passes. We are talking different genres, short stories, historical information, political commentary and more.

Check out the here: h..t ,t:p` s:/,/ w ww. patr e.o n /. do uglas writing

Its called Douglas Writing co. so please check it out. There will be early access to novels and plenty of content to enjoy, we are just setting up everything now, but we already have a surplus of content so that there will be no issues with updates!

Check out my first post: a short story called Heaven's Fall, it questions morality and hard decisions in challenging times.


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